Kelly+GranfieldLBF

Executive Summary
// A total of 237 surveys were compiled together by the COMET cohort of the Master’s in Educational Technology program at San Diego State University as part of a course on learning through the use of games and simulations. The database included both genders, an age range of 7 years old up through 86 years old, as well as a variety of educational levels and learning experiences. // // Overall is has been established that the old ways of direct instruction with a teacher lecturing to the learners is no longer adequate. Today’s learners learn-by-doing and want to interact and enjoy themselves in the process. Boring learning experiences related to the instructor, length of the experience, the environment or setting, lack of interactivity and a lack of relevance. Conversely, the fun learning experiences relate to hands-on or interactive experiences, the instructor, the challenge of the topic, enjoyment with friends and personal interest. //

What Makes Learning Boring?

 * 1.** **The instructor was listed as the reason why the learning experience was boring, in almost one-third of all responses.** The teacher is the facilitator of exposing the new information or experience to the learners, and should be making this information learnable to the students, not boring. The majority of the reasons listed categorized the teachers as bad instructors, not competent in the material, bad instructions and having poor presentation skills towards the audience. Astrologer Tany sums it up by stating, “the instructor could have been a robot.”


 * 2.** **The length of time combined with a lack of movement equals a boring learning experience.** Overall the results report 92% stating listening, 71% stating watching, and 74% remember sitting still was definitely expected during the learning experience, while 89% stated moving around was not expected throughout the learning. The length of time, whether it be a four-hour, eight-hour or week-long course, was noted to be too long in the survey responses as a cause for the boredom. The period of time between the learning and the reinforcement was additionally noted as too long and part of the problem. Pistol Peet came away from the experience stating “the lesson was way too long to be effective for me.”


 * 3.** **The environment/setting of a learning experience adds to the boredom of an already boring topic.** Some survey results showed a large conference room/lecture hall disengaged learners from wanting to remain attentive. If learners are not interacting, they appreciate at last being visual stimulated by their surroundings. Dana J recalls “the teacher simply regurgitated what the book covered…….which created a very rudimentary and stagnant learning environment, while Scott adds on by noting “there was nothing stimulating…...the setting of the class also prevented any creativity, as there were a few posters on the walls, and that's all.”


 * 4.** **When being a part of a learning experience, most prefer to do just that; actually be a part of the learning experience through interaction, rather than just sit back and watch and listen.** Of 237 surveys compiled, 70% were bored when there was no interaction with others expected, 65% when no interaction with technology or an artifact was expected and 79% when no performance or presentation was expected. 193 of the 237 total surveys all had this same combination of problems leading to their boring learning experience. Most of these responses pointed back to only being expected to sit and listen and to the poor instruction. Jim notes “it was a dry subject matter;” though I feel this would be more the reason to liven up the material with interactivity.


 * 5.** **A lack of relevance turns most everything into sheer boredom.** If we are unable to see the application in our own life whether it be work or personal, we lose interest due to the lack of value and then automatically become bored. Students need examples and that may be applied directly to them at that moment during the learning experience in order to see the value. A retired teacher looks back to the age of ten and memorizing spelling lists and realizes that a “lack of collaboration…….or involvement in the world” lead to her boredom. Pinky describes that “overall, the lack of student-centered learning killed the experience.”

What Makes Learning Fun?

 * 1.** **Interactivity and hands-on learning are fun, as you are a part of making the fun happen.** While listening and watching are still definitely expected, 88% and 84% respectively, in the fun learning experiences noted, interaction with others and interaction with the instructor were also definitely expected, 69% and 68% respectively. Immediate application of this learned material than emphasizes the importance and relevance, therefore adding value and contributing to making the experience fun. Ava A. recalls a fun learning experience in a conversational Spanish course in college; “I enjoy working in teams and with groups and working interactively with my classmates helped learn the language,” noting examples of acting and role playing in the language as essential to learning foreign languages. Field trips are another prime example of hands-on learning, and students are always asking to go on field trips, which were noted in the surveys (as well as any sort of trip) as the location of many of the fun experiences that occurred.


 * 2.** **The instructor’s enthusiasm alone has the ability to make the learning experience fun, even for the driest of topics.** Students can tell when their instructor is enjoying what they are teaching—and when they are not, and the students play off of this energy—or lack there of—in the classroom. Jim H. recalls his grade school math teacher “was enthusiastic about the subject matter,” while Waltercat notes “the instructor was a terrific speaker.” White Mike appreciated “the instructor was funny, hands on, full of energy.”


 * 3.** **Being challenged or asked to critically think makes the learning experience similar to solving a problem and more fun.** When the instructor is aware of the skill level of the learners, they are able to raise the bar and challenge these learners to a higher level. Learners appreciate the fact that their instructor thinks highly of them and their abilities and is there to help them increase their knowledge. Laka recalls a guest speaker in a graduate level course; “during this experience I was expected to interact with peers and think critically about my own views and practices.” Scott talks of a workshop completed at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center which “challenged us to use what we had learned in a fun and interesting and definitely novel way.”


 * 4.** **Being able to enjoy a learning experience with friends, who are the ones you typically have fun with, always makes learning more fun.** When something good or bad happens to us, we want to share this with our friends. In learning we want to do the same and it’s even better if these friends are along with us for the ride through the learning process. Dancer talks about a church class “I'm amongst friends, so I feel comfortable stepping out of my comfort zone and sharing,” and TinkyTina has a similar experience in a church class “I had all my friends there to play with me and have fun with me.” Chocolate1 sums up the value of friends by remembering P.E. class at age 13; “I got to enjoy the learning experience with friends while learning was still happening.”


 * 5.** **Interest in the topic always makes a learning experience more enjoyable.** Personal preference is always going to lead us to our own individual levels of excitement and fun. If we are interested in a topic or subject area, it is inadvertently going to hold our focus and add an element of fun to most of these learning experiences. El Cajon Ed recalls learning MS Excel “I had a keen interest in learning the material, it was self-directed.” Grace T. recalls an art workshop she signed up for, noting “there was no pressure to take it and no grades to proceed it. This was something that I wanted to learn.”

Implications
// Based on reviewing a large number of the surveys, it reinforces the point that I need to make my learning fun for the students. Everyone likes fun, and that will help them become more engaged, willing and yearning to learn, as well as make my days much more enjoyable with them. Additionally, at my current school, classes are one-and-a-half hours long each day and I need to be more conscious of breaking that time up into different activities and have the students interacting more often with one another by getting up and moving around the classroom. Lastly, I need to reiterate the relevance to everyday life to them, myself as an adult and to careers that may be of interest to the students. //